Stumping at the Owensboro International Barbeque Festival

Democratic Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel of Evansville, Indiana stumps for Barack Obama at the Owensboro International BBQ Festival

OWENSBORO -- The 29th annual International BBQ Festival in the western Kentucky riverside town of Owensboro not only offers visitors a multitude of culinary delights, but also a chance to hear from a number of the candidates seeking their vote in the forthcoming elections.

The festival's coinciding political forum on Saturday was held inside a convention hall at an Owensboro hotel this year. In past years, the forum was staged on a flatbed truck parked next to the Daviess County courthouse. Perhaps because of the change of location and the warm weather, the size of the crowd was limited this year.

The forum featured a slate of candidates for offices ranging from the U.S. Senate to the local Commonwealth Attorney.

There was some speculation that one or both of the Democratic candidates for President would pay a visit to the festival, given Kentucky's newfound importance in the race between Senators Barack Obama (D-Illinois) and Hillary Clinton (D-New York). The state's May 20 primary has drawn a good deal of attention to Kentucky, including a visit last Friday from Senator Clinton and forthcoming visit from Senator Obama.

The Clinton campaign has gone so far as to deem the state's primary as "critical" towards their candidate's final push to grasp the Democratic Party's nomination.

The importance of that race was not lost on the organizers of the event. Forum emcee Tommy Thompson (D-Owensboro) put the race into a historical context for attendees.

"This is a historic moment for us in Daviess County, and certainly for us in Kentucky, because we have an opportunity ten days from now to play a role in determining who is going to be the Democratic nominee for President of the United States," said Thompson. "In Kentucky, certainly in my history and my memory, we've never been able to do that."

Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel of Evansville, Indiana was present at the event on behalf of the Obama campaign. Evansville sits just under 50 miles north of Owensboro, across the Ohio River - a symbol utilized by Weinzapfel in his speech for Obama.

"We often talk about what a barrier this river is and, unfortunately, it kind of keeps us from having these kinds of political dialogues on a regular basis," said Mayor Weinzapfel. "Senator Obama has been talking about bringing people together. Well, he brought me across that river, right over here to Owensboro. That is a feat in and of itself."

Weinzapfel spoke to the crowd about the Obama campaigns presence in Kentucky, noting the Illinois Senator stopped in the Commonwealth shortly after declaring his candidacy in February of 2007 and the 16 office the campaign now has open across the state.

"I believe this represents a tremendous commitment to state of Kentucky," said Weinzapfel.

Representative Thompson noted Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell was potentially going to make an appearance to speak on behalf of Senator Clinton, but at the event's commencement, Rendell was not present.

Democratic candidates outnumbered Republicans significantly at the forum - a fact noted by former state Representative Joe Bowen (R-Owensboro) during his speech on behalf of the Daviess County Republican Party.

“We feel sort of like Davie Crockett and Colonel Travis at the Alamo. We could use a few more troops here today, but we'll make do with what we got,” said Bowen, referencing the outnumbered American commanders at the notorious 1836 battle between Mexican and Texan forces in San Antonio.

ALSO on PolitickerKY.com:

• Owensboro International BBQ Fest: KY-2 Candidates
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• Owensboro International Barbeque Festival: Democratic Senate candidates